Building block



H. J. KAUFMAN BUILDING BLOCK Dec. 3, 1935.

Filed Dec. 29, 1934 I N V EN TOR. fiaro/a 1 Kaufinan A TTORNEYS Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES EATENT OFFICE BUILDING BLOCK Harcld J. Kaufman, Columbus, Ohio Application December 29, 1934, Serial No. 759,649

Claims.

My invention relates to building blocks. It has to do, more particularly, with a brick or block adapted to be used for building purposes and which is particularly adaptable to present-day building conditions.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a brick or building block which possesses all the desirable features of the standard type of brick but which has certain additional advantageous features.

Another object of my invention is to provide a brick or building block which Will be comparatively light in weight while still possessing ample strength.

Another object of my invention is to provide a brick or building block which will be simple and which will possess a great amount of flexibility in use due to the fact that it may be readily broken .or out without measuring into A or lengths.

A further object of my invention is to provide a brick or buildin block of such a type that when a wall is made up of bricks or blocks of this type a great amount of dead air space will be produced therein, which will serve as an insulating medium, and a plurality of drainage channels will also be produced in the wall.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a brick or building block which is of such a nature that it may be readily produced by a simple method and in such a manner that it will be of the highest quality.

In its preferred form, my invention contemplates the provision of a brick which is made of standard size, although it may be made of other sizes. This brick is provided with cut out portions at the back thereof which are of a partic ular shape and which serve to reduce the weight of the brick. At spaced intervals, the brick is provided with slots each of which extends through the thickness thereof and from a point adjacent the face thereof to a point adjacent the rear side thereof. These slots also aid in reducing substantially the weight of the brick. However, the brick is so formed that although it is light in weight, it will still have ample compressive strength. The various slots in the brick are so located that they facilitate cutting or breaking of the brick into /4 or lengths without measuring. All the walls of the brick are preferably of uniform thickness throughout which facilitates manufacture of the brick and increases the desirable properties thereof. When a wall structure is made up of these bricks, a plurality of dead air spaces will be formed therein and will serve as an insulating medium and a plurality of drainage channels will also be formed therein. These drainage channels will conduct any moisture which might seep into the wall to a desired point. 6

This application is a continuation in part of my application on Building blocks, Serial No. 648,682, filed December 23, 1932, Patent No. 1,986,759, dated Jan. 1, 1935.

The preferred embodiment of niy invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of brick which is made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective View of a wall structure having bricks like that of Figure 1, incorporated therein.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a block which is a combination of facing and back up bricks of the type illustrated in Figure l.

With reference to the drawing, and particularly to Figure 1, I have shown a brick i made in accordance with my invention. This brick is preferably made of standard size, although it may be made of other sizes, and of any suitable material.

In Figure 1, I have shown the brick resting on its face with the rear side thereof uppermost. The rear side or back of the brick is provided with cutaway portions 2 and 3 which extend en-' tirely through the thickness of the brick. These cutaway portions are both of the same dimensions and shape and each of them is spaced an equal distance from the corresponding end of the brick. Furthermore, these cutaway portions extend forwardly into the brick a considerable distance but preferably extend a distancewhich is less than one-half the depth of said brick. 40 By the term depth of the brick I mean the distance from the face of the brick to the back of the brick.

The cutaway portions 2 and 3 are of the particular shape indicated. This particular shape results in many advantageous features. The cutaway portions are of substantially V-shape with the sides thereof disposed at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees from the horizontal (Figure 1) or, in other words, the angle between the two sides is approximately ninety degrees. However, at the vertex, each of these substantially V-shaped cutaway portions is provided with a flattened wall a or narrow width, as indicated.

As shown in the drawing, when the cutaway portions 2 and 3 are formed in the brick, a body portion of the brick is formed which extends for the entire length thereof and which is greater in width than one-half the depth of the entire brick, since the cutaway portions extend into the brick less than one-half the depth thereof. From a point at each end of the body portion, rearwardly .extending portions 5 and 6 project. These portions 5 and 6 are of the same dimensions. The outermost ends of these portions 5 and 6 are flattened as indicated at I. A rearwardly projecting portion 8 is also formed midway between the portions 5 and 6 and extends rearwardly from the body portion of the brick. The extreme outer end of the portion 8 is flattened as at 9. The flattened portion 9 is in line with the flattened portions 1 of the rearwardly extending members 5 and 6.

The center rearwardly projecting member 8' is substantially twice as wide, plus the width of a mortar joint, as each of the portions 5 and 6, for a; purpose which will be apparent hereinafter.

In addition to the cutaway portions 2 and 3 which are formed in the brick, several other apertures which extend through the thickness of the brick are formed. These apertures take the form of slots, each of which extends from a point adjacent the face of the brick to a point adjacent the back thereof. These slots serve to reduce the weight of the brick but also facilitate cutting of the brick into and lengths.

As shown in Figure l, a slot iii is formed midway between the ends of the brick. This slot is formed partly in the body portion of the brick and partly in the rearwardly extending portion 8 thereof. This slot is preferably approximately the same width as the width of a mortar joint. It will be apparent that this slot will facilitate breaking or cutting of the brick into halves and will render measuring unnecessary. If the brick is cut or broken in two at the slot and the projections formed by the end walls of the slot are trimmed flush with the side walls of the slot, two substantially one-half lengths of brick-s will be produced which together will be as long as one of the bricks minus the width of the mortar joint, or in other words, minus the width of slot I0.

In order to facilitate breaking or cutting of the brick into A; or lengths, I provide a pair of slots ll. These slots H are disposed on opposite sides of the slots I 9. Each slot I I is in alignment with the flattened surface 4 at the vertex of the corresponding substantially V-shaped cutaway portion and is of the same width as such flattened portion. The slot and the flattened portion are of substantially the same width as slot ID, and, consequently, as a mortar joint. The manner in which or lengths may be produced will be apparent from the description of the manner in which lengths are produced. The slot H and the flattened surface 4 facilitate breaking or cutting of the brick.

Besides the slots I 9 and H which are formed in the brick, a pair of slots l2 are formed therein and a pair of slots i3 are formed therein to reduce the weight and provide dead air and drainage spaces in the brick. Each of the slots I2 is disposed midway between the corresponding slots Ill and H and each of the slots i3 is located between the slot H and the corresponding end of the brick. It will be apparent from Figure 1 that all the slots and the cutaway portions are so formed and of such dimensions that all the walls of the brick are of substantially uniform thickness throughout.

Although this brick is provided with a number of slots and the cutaway portions, it will still have substantially the same stability as the standard brick due to the locations and dimensions of the slots and cutaway portions. It will be understood, that a brick embodying the principles of my invention will have load bearing portions at each end which extend for the entire depth of the brick. It will also be understood that a similar load bearing portion is provided midway between the ends of the brick but this portion is substantially twice as wide, plus the width of a mortar joint, as the load bearing portions' disposed at each end of the brick. Thus, at all load bearing points, my brick will be of the same depth as the standard brick. This will, therefore, give a wall which is made of my brick, the same stability as if it were made of standard brick.

It will be apparent that a brick of the type described could be used with any standard brick, either for facing or backing purposes, but is preferably used in combination for both purposes.

In Figure 2, I have shown a wall structure made up of a row of backing bricks B and a row of facing bricks F. All of these bricks are identical in structure to that shown in Figure 1.

When the front and rear rows of bricks are laid in running bond, or brick behind brick, the cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the front row will correspond to the corresponding cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the back row of bricks. Thus, vertical passageways Id of comparatively great crosssection are formed in the wall structure. Furthermore, when all the different layers of bricks are laid, in standard running bond or in vertical columns, the passageways M in all the layers of bricks will coincide. Thus, the wall structure will have passageways M extending the entire height thereof. These passageways will form dead air spaces which serve as an insulating medium for the wall structure. Likewise, these passageways will serve to drain off any moisture which might seep into the wall, due to the shrinkage of mortar or to any other factor.

The layers of brick will also be so disposed relative to each other that the various slots in the bricks of one layer will coincide with the corresponding slots in the various bricks of the ad jacent layer. In this manner, a plurality of smaller vertical passageways 55 will be produced in-the wall structure. These passageways, since the mortar at these points is not dense or compressed, serve as drainage passageways and, also, as dead air spaces. When the mortar is placed on the bricks, it is placed along the forward portion thereof and a part of it will key both up and down into the va 'ious slots and serve to more firmly anchor the layers of brick together.

Since the rearwardly projecting portion 8 at the middle of the brick is substantially twice as wide, plus the width of a mortar joint, as each of the projecting portions 5 and E3 at the ends of the brick, the front row of brick may be disposed in overlapping relation to the back row of brick, and the cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the front row will align with the corresponding portions 2 and 3 of the back row. Likewise, because of this structure of the brick, the bricks of the adjacent layers of the wall may be disposed in overlapping relation and the corresponding cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the bricks of different layers will coincide wtih each other and also the slots will coincide with each other. The entire body of each brick, whether the bricks are laid in running bond or brick over brick, is load bearing.

As previously pointed out, it is important to have the cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the shape shown. The walls of the cutaway portion, being inclined at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees, results in making the rearwardly extending portions 5, 6 and 8 extremely strong and practically eliminates danger of breakage of these rearwardly extending portions in both manufacturing and handling. Also, the use of cutaway portions wherein the walls thereof are disposed at approximately ninety degrees to each other simplifles the use of friction filler blocks should they be used to insure proper alignment of the vertical joints in the wall. The cutaway portions 2 and 3 of the front and back row of brick cooperate to produce substantially square vertically disposed openings, with the exception that the corners are made blunt by the flattened surfaces 4. Friction filler blocks could be made from a square piece of lumber with the edges shaved off to correspond to surfaces 4, split through the middle and with spring steel inserted between the two wooden blocks so made, friction against the sides of these cutaway portions holding the wooden block in place. The wooden blocks could be easily slid toward the top as the work progresses. In case the wall was being built with my designed brick for either facing or backing up purposes alone, with the standard type of solid brick in combination, one of the two sections of the filler block could be used in the same manner.

As shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, the brick of the lowermost course are laid transversely of the row of facing brick and the row of backing brick. This is commonly known in the trade as a rowlock course and serves to join the front part of the wall to the rear part of the wall. This rowlock course laid as indicated also serves to close the lower ends of all the vertical passageways in the wall. Likewise, a plurality of horizontal drainage troughs I6 are formed which communicate with the vertical passageways in the wall. Thus, any moisture seeping into the wall, as during a severe storm, will pass downwardly through the vertical channels in the wall and then into the horizontal drainage channels M, by means of which the moisture may be conducted to any desired point. If desired, one end of one or more of the bricks may be broken 01?, as shown at H, so that the moisture may be drawn off from the drainage troughs. A drain may be connected to the wall through the medium the passage formed by breaking off the end of the brick.

A similar rowlock course of brick may also be laid at the top of the wall structure. These bricks are also laid transversely of the wall and on edge but with the cutaway portions 2 and 3 disposed on the lower surface thereof. Thus, the upper ends of all of the vertical passageways in the wall structure will be closed by the course of bricks which are arranged in this manner.

When brick of this type are used in a wall structure, it is not necessary to have a special shape for the corners. If it is necessary to lay one of the bricks on edge at the corner, small sections or slabs l8, cut from my unit, may be employed for filling in the exposed cutaway portion. It will be apparent that this brick may be readily broken into 1 A; or lengths. No measuring is required and easy breaking points are provided.

Thus, although this is a hollow brick, it may be easily broken into the desired lengths without wastage. It is easier to cut or break and trim than solid brick.

In laying brick in decorative patterns, such as Dutch or Flemish bond, it is necessary to have and brick lengths with the size of the mortar joint taken into consideration. My brick may be readily broken or cut into the desired lengths and the brick is designed with a certain mortar joint taken into consideration. However, it is not limited to the mortar joint for which it is designed since by trimming in a slightly different manner difierent widths of mortar joints may be compensated for.

As previously stated, all the walls of the brick are of uniform thickness throughout. This is an important feature. When this brick is manufactured, a column of clay is forced through a die which has a plurality of members disposed therein that will form the cutaway portions and slots in the brick. Because of the uniform thickness of the walls, there will be uniform pressure and friction in all directions as the clay is being forced through the die. Consequently, cracks will be eliminated and the brick produced will have more uniform strength throughout the walls thereof.

In Figure 3, I show a building block is which is a combination of two of the bricks illustrated in Figure 1. Each half of the block is identical with the brick of Figure l and, therefore, the block need not be described in detail. The principal purpose of this imit is for a bond between face and back-up walls where such is required. Breaking points I!) are provided at each end of the block and breaking points 2% are provided in the center of the block to facilitate breaking of the block in two.

It will be apparent from the preceding description that I have provided a building block having many advantageous features which have been pointed out. Other features will be apparent from the drawing and the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

processing a 1. A building block comprising a body portion having a rearwardly extending portion at each end thereof and a rearwardly extending portion substantially midway between the ends thereof, each end rearwardly extending portion having an inner side surface which is inclined inwardly and forwardly and the middle rearwardly extending portion having its two side surfaces forwardly and outwardly inclined, each of the side surfaces of the middle rearwardly extending portion substantially converging with and cooperating with the inclined inner surface of one of the end rearwardly extending portions to form a substantially V-shaped cutaway portion adjacent the corresponding end of the block which extends through the entire thickness of the block, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block each of which is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block, each of 'said cleavage planes being disposed substantially in alignment with the vertex of the corresponding substantially V- shaped cutaway portion.

2. A building block comprising a body portion having a plurality of rearwardly extending portions which are spaced apart, each of said rearwardly extending portions having a forwardly inclined surface which almost converges with and cooperates with a correspondingly forwardly inclined surface on the adjacent rearwardly extending portion to form a substantially V- shaped cutaway portion in the back of the block, a flattened surface at the vertex of the V-shaped cutaway portion, a cleavage plane for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block and provided with a slot which has both ends closed but which extends through the entire thickness thereof, said cleavage plane being so located that the slot thereof is substantially in alignment with the said flattened surface.

3. A building block comprising a body portion having a rearwardly extending portion at each end thereof and a rearwardly extending portion substantially midway between the ends thereof, each end rearwardly extending portion having an inner side surface which is inclined inwardly and forwardly and the middle rearwardly extending portion having its two side surfaces forwardly and outwardly inclined, each of the side surfaces of the middle rearwardly extending portion substantially converging with and cooperating with the inclined inner surface of one of the end rearwardly extending portions to form a substantially V-shaped cutaway portion adjacent the corresponding end of the block which extends through the entire thickness of the block, a cleavage plane disposed substantially midway between the ends of the block for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into halves and provided with a slot which extends through the entire thickness of the block, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into fourths each of vvhioh is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block, each of said last-named cleavage planes being disposed substantially in alignment with the vertex of the corresponding substantially V-shaped cutaway portion.

4. A building block comprising a body portion having a rearwardly extending portion at each end thereof and a rearwardly extending portion substantially midway between the ends thereof, each end rearwardly extending portion having an inner side surface which is inclined inwardly and forwardly and the middle rearwardly extending portion its two side surfaces forwardly and outwardly inclined, each of the side surfaces of the middle rearwardly extending portion almost converging with and cooperating with the inclined inner surface of one of the end rearwardly extending portions to form a substantially V-shaped cutaway portion adjacent the corresponding end of the block which extends through the entire thickness of the block but which extends forwardly into the block a distance less than one-half the depth thereof so that the body portion throughout its length has a depth greater than one-half the depth of the block, a flattened surface at the vertex of each of the V-shaped cutaway portions, a cleavage plane disposed substantially midway between the ends of the block for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into halves and provided with a slot which extends through the entire thickness of the block and almost the entire depth of the block but has both ends closed, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into fourths each of which is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block but having both ends closed, each of said lastnamed cleavage planes being disposed midway between the middle cleavage plane and the end of the block so that the slot thereof will be sub stantially in alignment with said flattened surface at the vertex of the corresponding substantially V-shaped cutaway portion.

5. A building block comprising a body portion having a rearwardly extending portion at each end thereof and a rear 'ardly extending portion substantially midway between the ends thereof, each end rearwardly extending portion having an inner side surface which is inclined inwardly and forwardly and the middle rearwardly extending portion having its two side surfaces forwardly and outwardly inclined, each of the side surfaces of the middle rearwardly extending portion substantially converging with and cooperating with the inclined inner surface of one of the end rearwardly extending portions to form a substantially V-shaped cutaway portion adjacent the corresponding end of the block which extends through the entire thickness of the block but forwardly into the block a distance less than onehalf the depth thereof so that the body portion throughout its length has a depth greater than one-half the depth of the block, said intermediate rearwardly extending portion being slightly greater in width than twice the width of one of said end rearwardly extending portions, a cleavage piane disposed substantially midway between the ends of the block for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into halves and provided with a slot which extends through the entire thickness of the block and from a point adjacent "he face of the block rearwar ly into said intermediate rearwardiyextending portion to a point adjacent the rear extremity thereof but has both ends closed, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into fourths each of which is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block but having both ends closed, each of said last-named cleavage planes being disposed midway between the middle cleavage plane and the end of the block so that the slot thereof will be substantially in alignment with the vertex of the corresponding substantially V-shaped cutaway portion.

6. A building block comprising a body portion having a rearwardly extending portion at each end thereof and a rearwardly extending portion substantially midway between the ends thereof, each end rearwardly extending portion having an inner side surface which is inclined inwardly and forwardly and the middle rearwardly extending portion having its two side surfaces forwardly and outwardly inclined, each of the side surfaces of the middle rearwardly extending portion substantially converging with and cooperating with the inclined inner surface of one of the end rearwardly extending portions to form a substantially V-shaped cutaway portion adjacent the corresponding end of the block which extends through the entire thickness of the block but forwardly into the block a distance less than onehalf the depth thereof so that the body portion throughout its length has a depth greater than one-half the depth of the block, said intermediate rearwardly extending portion being slightly -reater in width than twice the width of one of said end rearwardly extending portions, a cleavage plane disposed substantially midway between the ends of the block for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into halves and provided with a slot which extends through the entire thickness of the block and from a point adjacent the face of the block rearwardly into said interm diate rearwardly extending portion to a point adjacent the rear extremity thereof but has both ends closed, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into fourths each of which is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block but having both ends closed, each of said lastnamed cleavage planes being disposed midway between the middle cleavage plane and the end of the block so that the slot thereof will be substantially in alignment with the vertex of the corresponding substantially V-shaped cutaway portion, said body portion having a slot extending entirely therethrough disposed between the middle cleavage plane and each of said lastnamed cleavage planes and between each of said last-named cleavage planes and the corresponding end of the block, all of said slots and cutaway portions being so arranged and of such dimensions that all the walls of the block will be of substantially uniform thickness throughout.

'7. A building block comprising a body portion having a plurality of walls so arranged as to produce a pair of large substantially square apertures which extend through the entire thickness of the block and are disposed substantially midway between the face and back of said block, a load-bearing portion formed at each end of the block and a load-bearing portion formed midway between the ends of the block and between the two large apertures formed therein, the walls which form the boundary walls for said large apertures being disposed at an angle to the face' and back of the block, a cleavage plane disposed midway between the ends of the block for facilitating breaking or cutting thereof into halves and provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block, a pair of cleavage planes for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block into fourths each of which is provided with a slot extending through the entire thickness of the block but having both ends closed, each of said last-named cleavage planes being disposed midway between the middle cleavage plane and the ends of the block so that it will be substantially in alignment with a corner of one of the substantially square apertures.

8. A building block comprising a body portion having a plurality of walls so arranged as to produce a pair of large substantially square apertures which extend through the entire thickness of the block and are disposed substantially midway between the face and back of said block, a load bearing portion formed at each end of the block and a load-bearing portion formed midway between the ends of the block and between the two large apertures formed therein, the walls which form the boundary walls for said large apertures being disposed at an angle to the face and back of the block, a cleavage plane for facilitating breaking or cutting of the block into fourths, said cleavage plane being substantially in alignment with a corner of the corresponding square aperture.

9. A building block comprising a body portion having a plurality of Walls so arranged as to form large apertures therein, the boundary Walls of each of said apertures extending at an angle to each other and to the face of the block and substantially converging with each other, and a cleavage plane for said block disposed substantially in alignment with the point of convergence of said walls for facilitating cutting or breaking of the block and including a slot which extends through the entire thickness of the block but has its forward and rear ends closed.

10. A building block comprising a body portion having a plurality of walls so arranged as to produce a pair of large apertures which are disposed substantially midway between the face and back of the block and are spaced from each other and equal distances from the corresponding ends of the block, a load-bearing portion formed at each end of the block and a load-bearing portion formed midway between the ends thereof and between said apertures, the middle load-bearing portion being slightly greater in width than twice the width ofsaid end load-bearing portions, and a cleavage plane disposed substantially midway between the ends of the block and between said apertures for facilitating breaking or cutting thereof into halves.

HAROLD J. KAUFMAN.

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